Three new TV ads for the Bush campaign can be viewed from the Bush/Cheney '04 Website. The ads begin airing today but there are already complaints about them.
Some families of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack are angered at President Bush for using campaign commercials that showed images of ground zero, accusing him of using the attack for his own political gain."It's a slap in the face of the murders of 3,000 people," Monica Gabrielle, whose husband died in the twin towers, told the Daily News in Thursday editions. "It is unconscionable."
Two of the three ads (Tested and Safer, Stronger) show a very brief image of an American flag flying at the scene of the World Trade Center destruction. None of the ads dwell on this image and in each of the two ads, the image is one of many. Still, it is the one image that is most likely to evoke an emotional response.
The horror of September 11 can not be ignored or forgotten and the leadership Bush has shown in fighting terrorism is a key part of his Presidency. The ads are upbeat, focusing on Bush and the accomplishments of this administration. Kerry had anti-Bush ads from the beginning of the primaries yet he warns of an upcoming Republican smear campaign. I don't expect Bush to refrain from attack ads throughout the campaign but making this accusation before any ads like that are aired sounds like projection.
In psychoanalytic theory, a mechanism of defense in which various forbidden thoughts and impulses are attributed to another person rather than the self, thus warding off some anxiety.Posted by marybeth at March 4, 2004 09:35 AM Politics